It focuses on Richie Finestra, American Century Records founder and president, whose passion for music and discovering talent has gone by the wayside.
With his American Century Records on the verge of being sold, a life-altering event rekindles Finestra's professional fire, but it may leave his personal life in ruins.
According to Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by an estimated 0.667 million household viewers and gained a 0.2 ratings share among adults aged 18–49.
He then returns to the American Century offices, where he shocks his associates by announcing that he won't sell the company to PolyGram.
The Germans angrily leave and Richie faces the ire of Zak (Ray Romano), Skip (J. C. MacKenzie) and company attorney Scott Levitt (P. J. Byrne).
Matt Fowler of IGN gave the episode a "good" 7.5 out of 10 and wrote in his verdict, "'Yesterday Once More' assumedly kicked off what's to be the main crux of the series - Richie's play to reinvent his own label and find the newest, hottest thing in music.
"[6] Noel Murray of Vulture gave the episode a 3 star rating out of 5 and wrote, "It doesn't appear that Vinyl intends to ignore the damage that a spoiled idealist like Richie Finestra can cause, either directly or indirectly.
"[7] Gavin Edwards of The New York Times wrote, "Richie is firmly in the recent tradition of the cable TV 'difficult man' who charms the viewer not just in spite of his bad behavior, but because of it.
"[8] Dan Martin of The Guardian wrote, "Richie's crisis is in full swing and Devon recalls her 60s heyday at Andy Warhol's Factory.
"[10] Robert Ham of Paste wrote, "If you're Richie Finestra, you apparently snort some more blow and make a fool out of yourself in a shady theater, acting along with a Bruce Lee movie like it’s a midnight screening of Rocky Horror.
I'm slowly accepting the fact that this show is completely removed from reality, but that sure doesn't make a dumb scene like that one any easier to swallow.